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Testing for DW/BI - Current State and a

Peek into the Future
InfoManagement Direct, June 2007

Arun Sundararaman
Just as with any other software application involving different technologies (such as the
mainframe, Java or Microsoft), testing is a very crucial phase in the software
development lifecycle for data warehouse/ business intelligence (DW/BI) projects.
Testing for DW/BI carries unique challenges and requires specialized approaches.
However, the testing function for this highly dynamic technology area is at a very nascent
stage of maturity. This article discusses the various aspects associated with testing for
DW/BI.
Testing for DW/BI
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Why and how is testing for DW/BI different from testing for other technologies? Part of
the answer lies in definition of what constitutes DW/BI.
BI may be defined as "the result of in-depth analysis of detailed business data; includes
database and application technologies as well as analysis practices."1 BI is a broad
category of application programs and technologies for gathering, storing, analyzing and
providing access to data to help enterprise users make better business decisions.

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A DW is a collection of data designed to support management decision-making.

According to Bill Inmon, a DW is a "subject-oriented, integrated, time-variant, nonvolatile
collection of data in support of decision-making."  DWs tend to have these distinguishing
features:
• Use a subject-oriented dimensional data model,
• Contain publishable data from potentially multiple sources, and
• Contain integrated reporting tools.

A typical DW/BI project can be viewed as comprising two broad components:

constructing the DW using extract, transform, load (ETL) technologies and presenting of
the same for analysis purposes with online analytical processing (OLAP) technologies.

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